Past Perfect (Pasado perfecto)

Past Perfect

The past perfect in English corresponds to the Spanish pluperfect. In general, we use it for actions that occurred before another action in the past.

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

Form (Forma)

As in the present perfect, the past perfect is formed with the auxiliary verb "to have" and the past participle. The auxiliary verb is in the past.

Subject	Auxiliary	Short Form	Past Participle
I, You, He, She, It, We, They	had	I'd, you'd, he'd, she'd, it'd, we'd, they'd	studied, visited, worked...

Note: Be careful: Contraction "- 'd" is also used with the modal verb "would" to form the conditional. As such, the short form "I'd" can have two different meanings. We can distinguish between these two meanings of the shape of the main verb that follows. If we say "I'd" within the meaning of past perfect, the main verb is in the past participle form, whereas the conditional, "I'd" is followed by the infinitive. For more information, see the lesson on conditional sentences.

Structure (Estructura)

Affirmative Sentences (Frases afirmativas)

structure

Subject + "had" + past participle ...

Examples:

• Play
   I'd visited the Louvre before so I knew where the Mona Lisa was. (Había visitado el Museo del Louvre antes, así que sabía donde estaba la Mona Lisa.)
• Play
   They'd studied English before they went to London. (Habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres.)
• Play
   Henry changed careers because he'd worked as an accountant for many years and was bored. (Henry cambió de profesión porque había trabajado como contable durante muchos años y estaba aburrido.)

Negative Sentences (negative statements)

Structure

Subject + "had" + "not" + past participle ...

Examples:

• Play
   I hadn't visited the Louvre before so I didn't know where the Mona Lisa was. (No había visitado el Museo del Louvre antes, así que no sabía donde estaba la Mona Lisa.)
• Play
   They hadn't studied English before they went to London. (No habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres.)
• Play
   Henry changed careers even though he hadn't worked as an accountant for long. (Henry cambió de profesión a pesar de que no había trabajado como contable durante mucho tiempo.)

Interrogative Sentences (Frases interrogativas)

Structure

"Had" + subject + past participle ...?

Examples:

• Play
  How did you know where the Mona Lisa was? Had you visited the Louvre before? (¿Cómo sabías dónde estaba la Mona Lisa? ¿Había visitado el Museo del Louvre antes?)
• Play
  Had they studied English before they went to London? (¿Habían estudiado inglés antes de irse a Londres?)
• Play
  Had Henry worked as an accountant for long before he changed careers? (¿Henry había trabajado como contable durante mucho tiempo antes de cambiar de profesión?)

Uses (Usos)

We use the perfect to refer to an action or event that started in the past and that is before another action in the past as past. The action happened first is past perfect and past simple to follow.

Examples:

• Play
  I'd read the book before I saw the movie. (Había leído el libro antes de ver la película.)
• Play
  Donna had just left when you called. (Donna había salido justo cuando llamaste.)
• Play
  Had you ever flown before the trip to France? (¿Alguna vez habías volado antes del viaje a Francia?)

It is used for actions that occurred before a specific time in the past.

Examples:

• Play
  I had already woken up when the alarm clock rang at 7am. (Ya me había despertado cuando sonó el despertador a las 7.)
• Play
  He hadn't been to France before the trip in 2008. (No había estado en Francia antes del viaje del 2008.)

Also, as in the present perfect, with some verbs we use the past perfect for situations that have started in the past and continued to a specific point in the past.

Examples:

• Play
  She had only owned one car before she bought her new BMW. (Había tenido un coche antes de que lcompró su nuevo BMW.)
• Play
  I'd been depressed for a long time before I changed jobs. (Había estado deprimido durante mucho tiempo antes de que cambiara de trabajo.)